Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

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Hey Glenn, What Happened to God?

Glenn Beck, more than any other wingnut commentator, squarely put the results of the election on the shoulders of God. Romney was going to win because God was in charge and he wanted Romney to win. Indeed, he claimed, God was actually giving Romney advice on how to “win” the third debate (which he didn’t, by any measure) and he had blessed Romney as he did George Washington. Here’s yet another clip of Beck saying that God was going to make sure Romney won on Tuesday:

And here’s Beck and David Barton saying that God is going to bless the country because Romney is going to get more than 330 electoral votes and win in a landslide:

So what now, Glenn? Was God lying to you? Does he really not care about what happens to America? Or maybe he wants Obama in office? Mysterious ways, indeed.

Tacitus is right. Sheep are sheep and they do what they do — follow. It doesn’t matter what Glenn says, how insane, wrong, stupid, or absurd. Doesn’t matter as long as they are assured that they do not have to think about anything.

Being defeated is a plus for conservatives. It just shows how stacked the deck is against them! Just imagine the utter depravity of Democrats to steal an election promised to Republicans by God! Surely it is impossible to fathom the depths to which they must have sunk to rig the electoral college and the popular vote!

This is delicious, precious. Please keep this momentum up in 2016! Oh how lovely it would be if we got an intelligent, no-nonsense Democrat running against a last-ditch hail mary ultra-conservative Republican.

But we probably won’t. Four years from now, the Repubs will have figured out what they did wrong, re-shaken the Etch-a-Sketch, fundies won’t mention and Fox News will claim that they’re champions of equal rights for homosexuals. You spin me right ’round, GOP.

Four years from now, the Repubs will have figured out what they did wrong

That might be the case, the jury is still out on that BTW, but will they be in a position to do anything about it. The problem is reality does not agree with their ideology anymore, couple with that the proverbial albatross around their necks that is the Tea Party and they are in a bit of a bind.

I have missionary in-laws (yes, every family has its black sheep). One in particular keeps talking about how “God is in charge.” Yet when things don’t go the way she wants them to, she never blames God. I’ve never quite figured out how that works. If God is sovereign and in charge, then EVERYTHING that happens, happens because that’s how he wants it (especially if you throw in omnipotence and omniscience).

Lawrence Block has a very good line in one of his novels. The character (a Jewish woman, making fun of these kind of religious fanatics) says: “You want to know God’s will? Just wait and see what happens, and that’s God’s will.”
So now we know, don’t we: God isn’t so dumb after all. He picked the right guy.

Gee, Glenn, I’m sorry. I was just so busy, you know? All those kids in developing nations with preventable diseases won’t kill themselves. And those parents in Pakistan needed a reminder that it was time to throw acid on their daughter because she looked at a man. And don’t even ask me about all the fundie parents who have to be told to throw their gay kids out on the streets. So much work, so little time. I’ll try to help out in 2016, promise. Toodles, God

Interesting how the ultra religious are always sure that weather is directed by God to influence events on earth. But I haven’t heard any of them suggesting that tropical storm Sandy was sent to help Obama, by breaking Romney’s momentum and making the President look presidential, which it surely did.

There’s no need for Beck to admit he was wrong. He can just wait a few weeks while Barton writes a history of the election. This will tell the true story of how Romney won the election, but the MSM refused to report it and Obama refused to leave office.